You are completely missing my point... you are asserting that CA as a whole is not paying their fair share, while I am stating that individual Californians are paying more in taxes than an individual in a similar position elsewhere. Both can be true. The mortgage interest and SALT deductions are a back door cost of living adjustment to taxable income. As far as the statistics, I was making a point about sloppy methods mixing the use of mean and median values to shape results to desired outcome. I brought illegal aliens into it, because I, like you, consider them to be invaders rather than “undocumented immigrants”. Thus, their presence in great numbers in CA lowers that IRS revenue per capita you quote... even more so when you consider their kids.